Southern showdown

FCB primed for 'tough encounter' in Stuttgart

Created on 30-10-2009 at 00:00 AM

Two wins on the spin have lifted Bayern from eighth to fifth in the Bundesliga standings, and Eintracht Frankfurt were dumped out of the DFB Cup 4-0 in midweek, so Munich travel to south German rivals VfB Stuttgart on Saturday (Live in English from 3.15 pm on FCB.tv Web Radio) in good spirits. “We’re confident. The 4-0 win was the best display since I got here,” said Louis van Gaal: “And if we win our next two games, we’ll be first or second.”

Three points are the target in Stuttgart, where VfB are a club in crisis. Three consecutive defeats have seen them slide to 14th in the table, level on points with second-from-bottom Bochum. The Swabians have lost their last five in all competitions, including a 1-0 cup exit to second division Greuther Fürth last Tuesday.

However, VfB are nothing if not unpredictable. Mario Gomez fears that a “trick or treat” team lies in wait. Van Gaal turned to a Dutch proverb by way of warning: “A cat in a tight space does things differently.” Saturday’s opponents are better than their place in the table suggests, the boss continued. “I think Stuttgart are a good team with quality individuals.”